CAIRO: The head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said the military would not field a presidential candidate in an expected election early next year for the country's top job. “These are only rumors, and we shouldn't waste time talking about rumors,” Tantawi said Wednesday while opening a military medical center. Tantawi's comments come as political tension continues to rise over the role of the military's future in Egypt. The SCAF had promised to relinquish power 6 months after Egyptians toppled former President Hosni Mubarak from power, but now 8 months on, their iron grasp of the political situation continues to worry activists and political parties who argue the military's refusal to set a solid timetable for the end of military rule highlights their desire to remain in power. On Wednesday, top presidential candidates pushed for the military to end its rule over the country, issuing a joint statement on when they would like to see presidential voting take place. Mohamed Selim al-Awa, Hamdeen Sabahi, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, Hazem Saleh Abou Ismael and a representative of Hisham Bastawisy proposed their own schedule for elections because Egypt's interim ruling body, the Supreme Council for Armed Forces (SCAF), has failed to do so. “After a number of Egyptian parties met with the SCAF on Saturday, but did not provide any solutions for a speedy transfer of power. The military council failed to provide any dates or procedures for presidential elections. We would like to present our own schedule,” said Selim al-Awa. They proposed to begin registration for presidential candidates on February 5, 2012. Voting would start on April 1, 2012 and run until April 15, 2012. The elected president would take power on April 20, according to their agenda. Presidential hopeful Amr Moussa reportedly announced that the group should not set a schedule for elections, while Hazem Saleh Abou Ismael has proposed earlier dates than the rest of the group. Hazem Saleh Abou Ismael said he fears that a delay will bring the country back to a dictatorship, and hence a speedy presidential election is necessary. He said the elections could start on January 19, with a second day of voting on January 26. He also offered the option of starting elections a month later, on February 19, and ending on February 26. The candidates also announced that they consider the state of emergency law expired, citing the law that mandates that reactivation of the emergency law be voted upon annually. ** Manar Ammar contributed to this report. BM
